YOUTUBE Creative Feature: Design Army

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Posted on 15 November 2010

Jake and Pum Lefebure and their graphic design firm Design Army are stirring up buzz and declaring war on the District’s uncreative image.

ON PUM: ELIZABETH AND JAMES black knit blazer with feather cuff ($545); Saks Fifth Avenue, www.saksfifthavenue.com. DRIES VAN NOTEN wide leather belt (price upon request) and long bronze satin skirt (price upon request); Relish, www.relishdc.com. CHLOE black leather knee-high boots (price upon request), Saks Fifth Avenue, www.saksfifthavenue.com. Pum's own black vintage beret. JULIE WOLFE rhinestone pin (price upon request), Julie Wolfe, www.juliewolfedesign.com. Pum's own vintage military pins and large cocktail rings. ON JAKE: Jake's own Russian military uniform and vintage military pins. DSQUARED white dress shirt ($335), Z Zegna black skinny tie (price upon request), VERSACE black dress slacks ($325) and Jake's own PRADA black dress shoes, all at Saks Men's Store, www.saksfifthavenue.com.

The husband-and-wife team behind the wildly successful graphic design firm Design Army has created something of a stir in the world of communication arts. Their self-proclaimed “no fluff ” shop’s distinctively clean and bold aesthetic (which Pum describes as “Swiss-Euro”) has made them the creative world’s version of the “It” couple. The result is an ever-growing and ever-varied list of clients and projects that reads like the design community’s version of the popular bored-at-the-bar “Kevin Bacon” game. “We have worked with so many clients over the years and have been exposed to so many new industries that it’s difficult not to make a connection back to us,” Pum says. “And being so connected has kept us on our toes.” The firm’s meteoric rise since it opened in 2003 has meant hiring new staff (now numbering 10) and a sleek new studio in a remodeled row house on trendy H Street NE. In the process, they haven’t lost their irreverent artistic sensibilities. Indeed, it seems to have pushed them to be even more creative. Case in point: their Facebook “Color Consumption” project where they come up with new names for colors. Recent discoveries include “viking,” “pancakes” and “swamp.” But it’s a much more forward-thinking, pie-in-the-sky project that has us enthralled. If Pum and Jake had it their way, they would give the District itself a whole new image. A Design Army revolution? We certainly hope so.

Jake and Pum Lefebure. Photography by Dean Alexander; Hair and Makeup by Dean Krape/T.H.E. Artist Agency; Styling by Pascale Lemaire/T.H.E. Artist Agency. On Pum: JOSEPH black blazer ($850); Relish, www.relishdc.com. RIVINI strapless ruched mermaid style bridal gown with silk tulle ruffles ($5,930); Betsy Robinson’s Bridal Collection, www.robinsonsbridal.com. JULIE WOLFE green vintage bracelet (price upon request); Julie Wolfe, www.juliewolfedesign.com. Pum’s own large vintage rings. On Jake: DOLCE & GABBANA tuxedo shirt (price upon request), black skinny tie ($125) and ALLESSANDRO DELL-ACQUA patent leather sneaker ($350); Saks Fifth Avenue, www.saksfifthavenue.com.